I will always remember moving from just outside Liverpool to Blackpool at the age of eleven. I hadn't realised that I had a scouse accent until my first day at an all girl's Grammar school. It seemed that everyone else understood one another but I was a bit of an outsider - that was until I sang. Like many people with regional accents, mine didn't transport into my singing voice and I passed the audition for the school choir.
Gradually my accent dissipated only to be replaced with that of my peer group and my speech acquired the same habits too. I was born in Blackpool and now I felt that I belonged. All the school mistresses spoke using Received Pronunciation - The Queen's English - just like every news presenter on the BBC. In the 1970s very few voices on the TV had regional accents but more recently that has begun to change.
Welsh newscasters, Scottish political commentators and weather presenters regularly appear on the BBC. Northern Irish chat show hosts and talent show presenters seem popular but according to several surveys, Liverpudlian, Mancunian and Bristolian accents don't resonate with the British public, however we do enjoy listening to voices from the North East. Many years ago, I remember hearing the black comedian, Charlie Williams for the first time. He had a broad Yorkshire accent and he was so funny.
With the advent of The Only Way is Essex and a multitude of reality TV shows, our younger generation has been infected with 'Estuary English', a strange accent, originating along the Thames estuary. With this trend, luscious 'l' sounds have been replaced with 'w's, 't' sounds have acquired a glottal stop, as in Ga'wick and yod coalescence that alters the first part of a word such as Tuesday to a 'ch' sound. Overall it just isn't cricket.
The subtle Scottish accent of James Bond actor, Sean Connery has proved to be a delight to the viewing public's ear, whereas Liverpool comedian Lily Savage's accent is unpopular. The harsh Northern Irish accent of Ian Paisley is a definite no-no too. Personally, I really don't like the Australian accent and I am not fond of a South African accent that sounds as if it is uttered through gritted teeth. My favourite comedian was the late, great Dave Allen and it was probably his lovely Northern Irish lilt that got me hooked.
I have been so busy lately I haven't found time to write a poem. I would love to start up a conversation about accents. Perhaps you could share a comment below.
Thanks for reading. Adele
2 comments:
It's a fascinating topic, I suppose it's natural that we all learn to speak imitatively, like our parents and peers. In my case it was basically 'received pronunciation' from my parents as we were the only English people in a small Nigerian village.
To an extent we can learn to speak adaptively (as you did when moving from Liverpool to Blackpool), though I don't think my living in East Anglia and then London had much impact on the way I speak and I don't believe ten years of living in Blackpool has made much difference either.
I suspect that mass communications and greater social mobility has been diluting regional accents to some extent but we will never all sound the same. Vive la différence.
The King's English now. Except he's half Greek.
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